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Our daily bread

Rooks are socially intelligent creatures — they even teach their young how to exploit the generosity of humans who leave them food

November 12 2012, 12:01am, The Times

Sir, I have first-hand experience of, not just the sociableness, but the social intelligence of rooks (On the wing, Nov 9). I’ve seen families of them in our garden, amid a cacophony of cawing, communally teaching their young how to soak the bread we put out for them in the birdbath until it’s soft enough to eat.